The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

How rare are the factory SKS's that take a AK mag? Where the Chinese the only ones that made them. Thanks.

I don't know if the Chinese made factory new SKS rifles that took AK mags but they did convert some military surplus ones to do it. Problem is the build quality on these is not always great. The mags were special fitted to the rifle and most often only that one mag will work without falling out during firing. I inherited one as part of a bulk buy, you buy everything or nothing deal. Every other round the magazine will fall out. It's now long retired to the parts pile, these are not milsurps, they are Bubba rifles, commercial sporters made with military parts. I could have it fixed but it's not worth the bother. If you want something that uses AK mags then get an AK, the SKS works very well with it's original fixed magazine.

lcrask wrote:How rare are the factory SKS's that take a AK mag? Where the Chinese the only ones that made them. Thanks.

Actually these rifles are quite common and as spongemonkey says they command a premium price. That premium price causes sellers to use catch phrases like "RARE" and "HARD TO FIND" to get your attention. Tens of thousands of these rifles were imported between 1988 and 1994. In a typical month on Gunbroker we see two or three "Detachable 20" barreled rifles and 6 to 10 16.5" barrel versions like the M and Sporter. The answer to the second part of your question is yes. The Chinese are the only country to make an AK mag capable SKS

Junk Yard Dog wrote:I don't know if the Chinese made factory new SKS rifles that took AK mags but they did convert some military surplus ones to do it. Problem is the build quality on these is not always great. The mags were special fitted to the rifle and most often only that one mag will work without falling out during firing.

There were 9 different versions of AK mag capable SKS rifles were imported into the USA of these rifles 7 are new production. Only two are manufactured from existing rifles. The first is the Navy Arms Assualt Carbine/Type 84. these rifles came with a 30 round mag serial numbered to the receiver. This mag has several mods to allow it to work with the AC/T84. If you don't have the mag that came with it you can experience FTF and mag retention problems.
Second are the rifles stamped MC-5D. These are also manufactured from existing rifles. They use a mag release made out of parts of the fixed mag release and not an AK style release as found on other versions. These rifles are notorious for not being able to retain a full 30 round mag. A lot of the bad rap these rifles get comes from this version. I think the Chinese understood this that is why the rifle was shipped with a 5 round mag. Owners have stated they function flawlessly with a 5 round mag.

The rest are all new production. This includes but is not limited to the Detachable 20" barrel, Sporter and M versions.


..................................Joe